Jacob Latimore is entertainment personified. When he’s not soothing our souls with his impressive voice, he’s making us laugh in Like A Boss as Tiffany Haddish’s scene-stealing boyfriend or getting us emotional in Showtime’s The Chi as Emmet.
Hailed by Variety, Indiewire and The Wrap as a young breakout star, Latimore spoke to The Koalition about his music, working with Tiffany Haddish, the upcoming season of The Chi and building his brand.
In Like A Boss, Latimore stars as Henry, Tiffany Haddish’s much younger not-so-faithful boyfriend who finds himself going toe-to-toe with the comedian powerhouse.
“I had a lot of fun [filming] Like A Boss. I was really grateful to be able to squeeze it into the schedule. At the time I was filming the second season of The Chi. I was able to film a cool scene [and] it was a lot of fun. Naturally I have a really goofy personality so I know the level she was going to take it, so wherever she goes, I know I gotta take it.”
In the movie, Haddish and Rose Byrne star as two friends with very different personalities run their own beauty company, Mia&Mel. Things take a turn for the worse when their company runs into debt, forcing them to turn to unscrupulous benefactor Claire Luna, head of a major cosmetics empire, who intends to steal the business out from under them. The two must address their differences to save their business, as they are faced with the challenge of ‘proving’ themselves to Luna.
What made the film so appealing to Latimore is its overall message of being your own boss, the love of friendship and trusting your power. “I was really happy about the message about being a boss and taking your career in your hands and making sure you have full control and how you want your brand to be portrayed.”
When Latimore isn’t busy making us laugh in comedies, he’s exploring his serious side as Emmett, the sneaker-obsessed teenage-father who can’t seem to keep it in his pants but does his best to provide for his son in The Chi.
While season 3 is under tight wraps, Latimore is looking forward to fans seeing what’s in store for his character and the overall growth of the show.
“I’m looking forward to most is just the growth. Everyone has really just grown into their characters. The kids aren’t so much kids anymore; they’re kids but they’ve done a lot of growing up; voices are getting deeper and everybody has sort of grown into themselves. Everybody’s look is coming together. The way we’ve shot this season is gonna be really interesting for people to see as well. We’ve definitely came to much more cinematic approach to the season this year versus everything was more raw and handheld.”
“Season three is gonna be long steady-cam shots. [In] one episode [it] has big big oners; if a scene is five pages there’s no cuts in-between that scene, it’s just an ongoing scene, like a play. If we messed up we had to redo those scenes again. We end up doing each scene 30-40 times, pretty much all day. I think it has a much more classic approach to the cinematography.”
“I’m proud of the cast overall how we’ve all grown. It’s probably one of the best sets I’ve been on.”
Always finding new ways to express himself, Latimore is also focused on music and to the delight of his fans, it won’t be too long until his next project.
“I’m always dropping new music and I’m going to drop a new album next month called Connection 3 and then my last two albums, Connection 1 and 2 are out right now, so this should be the last chapter of my Connections series album.”
Young and gifted, Latimore is far from slowing down and just doesn’t want to be known for his work in the entertainment industry but as someone who helps others.
“My motivation comes from a lot of different things outside of just music or entertainment. I just love to see growth, I love to see smart people who do the homework and do the research and they’re able to apply themselves to whatever it is. I think that’s motivation to me to say ‘What am I doing? What do I want to do in this lifetime? And how do I want to make my impact’? That alone motivated me want to really dig deeper on the Jacob Latimore brand and the things I want to do outside of just singing or just being the actor on screen. Do I want to help out other actors one day? Do I want to help out other producers and songwriters and singers and help them grow as well; build an empire to really help people. Those are like the ultimate goals and that’s what keeps me motivated to just help other people too. there’s so many talented people out here, all they need is a shot, I think.”
Like A Boss will release on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand April 21st, while The Chi will return for Season 3 on Sunday, July 5th at 10 p.m. EST on Showtime.
To learn more about Latimore’s endeavors check out our full interview below.
